2010 In Review!

Well..... It has been a whole year since we have posted anything. It must be time to review last year and share some of the highlights that stick out in my mind.

Graduation

In April, I (Todd) graduated from BYU - Idaho with a Bachelors Degree in Construction Management as well as an Associates Degree in Architectural Technology. It sure was fun celebrating with everyone. Kaila made Eva a little graduation gown so she could walk with me. They even announced us as Todd and Eva! We celebrated and made our selves merry the best we knew how.

Eva and Daddy

Kaila & I Graduation Night

Celebrating the Graduation!

Moving

After graduation, we packed up our little apartment in Rexburg and it was time to move onto bigger and better things. We moved to Star, ID where Kaila grew up and found a great deal on a house to rent. It has more than enough space for us and Eva loves having room to move. We had a garden in our backyard, and Kaila spent most of the summer learning and perfecting the art of canning. We ended up with beans, potatoes, corn, pickles, peas, tomatoes, and many other things that we are enjoying throughout the winter. It sure is great not having neighbors above us. We can listen to music as loud as we went, watch movies without feeling bad, and we don't have to wonder when the basketball will stop bouncing above us. It was sad to leave our first home, but it is a great change and we are excited to begin the new chapter of our lives.

Snowy Apartment in Rexburg

Our House in Star, ID

Running

Since a lot of my posts in 2009 were about running, I figure I will mention the year of running in 2010. I ran Robie Creek here in Boise the week after we moved over to the valley. I was not prepared for the hills, but I had a blast. I kind of took the summer off, and would run every so often, and got myself ready for my new goals. In 2011, I am going to run Robie again, and a couple other races with my family. I like running with my family, and hopefully we can all do Mesa Falls Half Marathon in August!

Getting Ready to Go

Eva Saying 'Good Luck'

Off I go

Kaila's Cake Decorating

Kaila learned that she is pretty much fantastic at decorating cakes! She made Eva's birthday cake, and then made me the best cake I have ever had. I love frozen burritos. I always put a slice of cheese on top and then a big splash of Cholula hot sauce. She made my cake to look exactly like that! I am very excited for many years of great cakes. She loves doing it, so I sure she will get even better as the years go on.

Eva's Birthday Cake

My Burrito Birthday Cake

She Even Got the Color of the Hot Sauce Right!

Christmas 2010

This year for Christmas, we had a great time spending it together as a family. We were quite surprised at how much Eva got. Christmas Eve we put out cookies and milk for Santa. She was so excited and kept asking 'where Santa?" We didn't have any carrots for the reindeer, so they had to eat some cilantro stocks! We put her to bed and waited for morning to come! After not sleeping much that night, I finally woke her up at 6:30. We helped her jump on mommy and daddy's bed so we were all awake, and then went to open presents. She noticed the cookies were gone and the stockings were full of stuff. She had fun ripping open presents and playing with everything in sight. Overall it was a great Christmas and I'm sure they will just get better as Eva understands more.

Eva's First Solid Food!

Today was a big day for lil 'o' Eva! She has been tasting bits of our food for the past little while. She has been loving gnawing on pickles, cucumbers, even limes and oranges! Today she had some rice cereal and loved it. We had to slow her down because she was eating to fast! What a big day for such a little girl!

Today was the Christmas program at church. Kaila was in charge of picking the music. There were six musical numbers and it turned out really nice. Eva got to dress up in her Christmas Dress, so here are a couple pictures of how cute she is!

She Wasn't Sure if She Liked Pictures!

Now She is Happy!

Eva and Mommy

Eva and Tired Daddy

Happy Halloween!

This year for Halloween, we decided to dress up as the best things......Boise State fans! Cute little Eva was our cheerleader, and Kaila and I were hoody-wearing fiends! Kaila made Eva a little wig and Auntie Macie bought Eva a cheerleader outfit, so she pretty much looked cute! (Some people thought she was a Cabbage Patch Kid!)

My Cute Daughter and I!

Kaila and Eva...Two Cute Girls!

Our ward had a party Friday night, and a trunk-or-treat. Due to the 20 degree temps, we did that inside! It was a lot of fun to see all the little kids dressed up and so happy to show off their costumes!

Kaila, Eva and I At Our Ward Part

We decided to put a picture of our pumpkins on as well to prove we didn't just buy a pumpkin to stick our daughter in! Eva's is the little Ghost, Todd's is the Mummy Head, and Kaila's was the rotten pumpkin that leaked rotting pumpkin juice all over our table! (Kaila made the Ghost, so it is alright!) We had a great time this Halloween and we are very excited for next year when Eva will be walking and maybe understand what is going on!

Scary Ghost and Mummy!

Our Little Pumpkin!

So I was wondering... Does it make me a bad parent if I find it enjoyable to put my 3 month old in a pumpkin? What a good sport she is!

St. George Marathon!!!

This past weekend, Kaila, Eva and I had the great privilege of going to St. George to run in the Marathon. We left Thursday morning, and traveled to Salt Lake and Provo to visit family, then went back to Ogden to stay with Kevin and Kendra. It sure was good to see everyone. Eva was very happy to meet all the new people!

Eva with Grandma Hill

Friday morning, we got up and went on our way to St. George. We arrived at about 4:00 and Nate and I went to a seminar to hear more about the marathon course. We went back to the hotel to pick up the ladies and went to the expo and to the pasta dinner.

Nate and Heidi and Family with Us

Kaila, Eva and I at Dinner

We went to bed pretty early since a 3:30 AM wake-up was in order! We stumbled out of bed, and Nate and I grabbed a shuttle to the bus loading area. We were taken on a bus to the start line where it was a party! There was about a 1/2 mile of bonfires spaced in a 20' x 20' grid. It was incredible! We met a lot of people and had a good 2+ hour wait... Then came the Start! I had originally had the goal to qualify for the Boston Marathon. I put my expected finish time at 3 hours and 10 minutes. When I received my bib, it was an 'elite' bib! Well... due to the horribly abnormal summer we had, I was not able to train near enough, not to mention I have been sick with a chest infection and sinus infection for the past 4 weeks and haven't run. I decided to try to run with the 3:10 pace group just to see what I could do. (I may get a little competitive during races!) We started out running at 6:45 AM. I stayed with the pace group for 13 miles. It went by really quick and I actually felt good. I was at the halfway point at 1 hour and 40 minutes, which was right were I wanted to be. Well... to put a long story short, that was the last time I felt good! I hit the infamous wall right after mile 13 and had the worst cramps in my life. My heart was about 210 BPM and I felt like I was going to pass out! Needless to say, I may have walked most of the second half! A friend of mine from my running group passed me at about mile 20 and pretty much pulled me along. What a good guy! We got into the city and there were people lining the roads for the last 4 miles or so. People were cheering us on while we were trying not to embarrass ourselves by falling! I finished in 3 hours and 55 minutes, which I am proud of. When I finished, my whole body felt like I just fell off a building! I found Kaila and Eva and promptly laid down never wanting to get up! I took my shoes off to see what damage had been done. I had the biggest blisters I have ever seen on the inside of both heels. I also had a toenail that looked pretty bad. To spare the graphic pictures, I had them bandaged for your protection!

Blister #1

Removed Toenail!

Blister #2!

The doctor at the first aid tent took care of my feet (including removing a toenail...Yes that means I am a real runner!) We hung around the park for awhile and had a great time seeing the different people finish. There were 30 kids under the age of 14 who did the marathon as well as 4 over the age of 80! We went back to the hotel and had a nice relaxing day sleeping and having a picnic in the park.

My Major Award! (Man I Look Bad!)

My Little Racing Buddy!

Cute Little Girl!

We stayed Saturday night, then drove on Sunday to Cedar City to see Kaila's Aunt and Uncle. We had lunch with them, and drove to Salt Lake and saw Vic and Alice and had dinner with them. We drove to Ogden and stayed with Kevin and Kendra again and woke up at 4:30 AM today to drive back to be in time for school. It has been a great weekend, and when I can walk normal again, I will enjoy running for fun now, and not for race training!

22 Miles and Still Running....?

Yesterday, I ran the longetst run of my life. I ran 22 miles! I started in Rexburg at the Nature Park, ran to Teton, then back to Sugar City, then back to Rexburg. That was a new experience for me! I have heard of this infamous 'wall' that people hit when running long distances, but I have never experienced it. Personally, I thought they were just complaining! Well... humble pie was served up yesterday morning durring my run because at mile 19, I hit the 'wall' and felt like my body had just been hit by a truck. I was wimpering like a little school girl, and wishing someone I knew would happen to drive by and offer me a ride! But, like everything, it takes persistance and I started feeling better with about a mile left. I got home, and wonderful Kaila took great care of me by filling the bath tub with ice cold water and 'helping' me ease my sore legs in to soak. If you have never experienced an ice bath, give it a try! I actually felt pretty good after and was able to walk around the park with Kaila and Eva. Three weeks left until the St. George Marathon, so hopefully I will be ready.

The map of where I ran.

Mesa Falls Half Marathon

Today was the Mesa Falls Half Marathon. It started a couple miles away from Mesa Falls and the course followed the Warm River, went up into the fields, and then finished in downtown Ashton Idaho. It was a beautiful morning, although we didn't start the race until 8:30 which made it over 80 degrees when I finished. That's too hot for me! My older brother Nate ran it with me. We went up together and picked up our race packets (which were in potato sacks!) and got bussed to the starting line. Kaila and Eva decided to sleep a little more and came up later. Eva was all dressed up and ready to make daddy smile when I crossed the finish line!

I haven't been training as good as I should be, so I wasn't sure if I wanted to race, or just have a nice easy run. The competitive side of me came out and as soon as the race started, I started running faster and decided I had better see how well I could do. About 8 miles into the course we were in the middle of fields with no shade to bee seen, and it was hot. I am sorry to say I even had to walk a couple of times. But I was able to finish in 1:43:55 which isn't too bad.

Nate ran the Half Marathon with me, and he did really well. He finished in 2:02, which is his best time for a race. His Garmin stopped working about a mile into the race, so I am sure he would have gotten under 2 hours were he able to pace himself. Still, he did a great job.

The awards were pretty cool. They are carved into wood, which beautiful little Eva is modeling! All in all, it was a great race. There were lots of people running, lots of spectators cheering us on, and lots of good food when we finished.

I finished 28th out of 300 runners, and 2nd in my age group! I even got a plaque to commemorate my "sort of" victory! It was a good day and we all had fun. The best part was the free huckleberry milk shakes we got from the old City Drug. Boy were they good! The next race for Nate and I is the St. George Marathon in October. Better get to running...!